Ipswich Senior Women hosted London Lituanica missing two key players, with the injured Emma Camp stepping-up to coach the team.
The home side started quickly, with the visitors struggling to cope with the defensive pressure led by Charlene Tom, Danni Cazey and captain Amy Linton which allowed the hosts to build a 36-28 halftime lead.
Lituanica started the third quarter quickly, and maintained momentum throughout, to tie the game at 46 going into the fourth quarter. As the final quarter started, another run for London led to a timeout from Camp, where she and Captain Linton gave the rallying cry to the team to make one last push. The ladies responded with Cazey, Tom and Harriet Welham attacking the basket, and drawing fouls in the process.
As the clock wound down, the younger Ipswich side showed great poise against their more experienced competitors who continued to turn the ball over, en route to a 67-62 win.
Cazey led the home side with 27 points, while Tom and Welham had 12 apiece.
The U18 Men squared-off against the unbeaten Bucks Hornets, in a game which was nip and tuck all the way.
The Suffolk side built a five point lead with two minutes to play, before a series of errors down the stretch cost them the game in a 74-78 home loss. Mark James (21) and Rory Winter (19) were the leading scorers.
The U16 Men travelled to Kingston Wildcats, looking to carry on their fine run of form. The hosts attempted to counter Ipswich’s height advantage through an aggressive pressing defence, but perhaps weren’t expecting the Suffolk side to surpass their defensive intensity which led to a 26-6 first quarter lead for Ipswich.
Kingston started strongly in the second, but Ipswich’s offence again clicked into gear, pushing the lead to 47-15 at the half. During the second half, Ipswich’s defence improved again, with the home side scoring only ten points in the final 15 minutes, and the Suffolk side travelling home with a 95–34 win.
Leading scorers were Caleb Fuller (29), Adam Darbous (25) and Ben Mobee (14).
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